


A Sword, A Spirit, and A Quest

by A_Cloudy_Day_In_AU_Hell



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda
Genre: Angst, Death, I wish I was joking, Link is a sword, OC centric, Oh wow another fuckin au, Spirits, Zelda why, ah shit here we go again, choices were made and there were regrets, many many mistakes, no beta we die like men, oop Ganon's back baby, original character death, the major character death is an oc and I guess Fi since the Madter Sword gets yeeted, the squad is in trouble, this started as a weirdly coherent dream then snowballed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25605016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Cloudy_Day_In_AU_Hell/pseuds/A_Cloudy_Day_In_AU_Hell
Summary: "I remember all... everything you heroes have done to me. Each time you struck me down or sealed me away. Now I am free, and you are all here, beaten and broken before me. Foolish, arrogant heroes... but I will not kill you. No... for death would be too kind a punishment. You shall watch as mere shades of yourselves as this wretched kingdom crumbles to dust before my wrath, helpless to do anything as your bodies serve as weapons to raze your precious Hyrule to the ground."Meanwhile, a new hero is chosen to step up and save her home, but doubt flickers in her mind as she draws the glimmering sword from its pedestal. Her hands are shaky, covered in soot and blood as everything she's ever known burns behind her. In the wake of tradgedy, can she find the courage to face her destiny?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	A Sword, A Spirit, and A Quest

Perhaps Lena was in over her head.

The sword in her hand felt heavier than lead, and her borrowed armor was too big in all the wrong places. The visor of her father's old helmet creaked with every _clank_ of her pounding, armored boots against the cobble roads of Castle Town. Lena could hear monsters around every corner. The air was thick with smoke, stinging her eyes and filling her lungs.

_Why the hell had she thought this was a good idea, again?_

Her intent was to help Link however she could. If she did that, maybe the hero would pull the stick out of his ass and allow women like herself into the guard. The guy was totally blinded by tradition, even opting to wear a green tunic rather than the blue uniform that the Princess had made for him. He'd insisted that it alligned more with the traditional garb of heroes past.

A shout sounded from the distance. Lena gritted her teeth and pushed onwards, into the swirling mass of _evil_ that had engulfed the castle. Something about it sounded... Lena shook her head. _Probably just nerves,_ she reasoned with herself. Still, it felt like there was more than one voice crying out...

Something told her that she was close to the fight. Lena ducked down behind a fallen pillar and crept towards the battle, listening to gain whatever information she could.

Things weren't sounding good.

"Legend!" A man called out. Lena paused for a second. _He sounds WAY older than Link,_ she thought, continuing.

" _Son of a bitch!_ I think the bastard broke my leg this time! 'Rule, _please_ tell me you were joking when you said that was our last potion." Another stranger's voice. He sounded strained and _Extremely_ angry--not that Lena blamed him.

"Hang in there, Leg, I think--" The next person was cut off by a painful-sounding impact and an agonized yell. Lena winced and peeked into the room where the battle was happening.

She almost dropped her sword.

Nine people were scattered around the room in varying states of injury. A few even looked unconscious. The room--the Throne Room, if Lena was correct--was in shambles. Pillars had been knocked down, the floor was torn up and _covered_ in blood, and the walls had chunks missing out of them. Princess Zelda stood in a corner, trembling. One of the mystery men, covered in intimidating golden armor, stood to the best of his ability between the Princess and what Lena assumed was Ganon--a hulking demon larger than her house that just barely resembled a boar enough to be compared to it. The beast let out an earth-shattering roar and threw the armored man across the room with one strike of its tusk. He landed near the doorway that Lena was watching through, groaning as he slid to the floor. 

A rumble resonated throughout the room, and it took Lena a moment to realize that Ganon was chuckling. The boar-demon began to dissolve into a cloud of black and red smoke before taking the form of... almost a man. A man's silhouette, made up of swirling hatred and violence. Two glowing orange eyes shone from his head. Ganon seemed to sweep around the room before speaking. His voice shook Lena down to the core, and she realized that she couldn't move.

_"I remember all... everything you heroes have done to me. Each time you struck me down or sealed me away. Now I am free, and you are all here, beaten and broken before me. Foolish, arrogant heroes... but I will not kill you. No... for death would be too kind a punishment. You shall watch as mere shades of yourselves as this wretched kingdom crumbles to dust before my wrath, helpless to do anything as your bodies serve as weapons to raze your precious Hyrule to the ground."_

"N-n- _no!_ "

Lena's eyes snapped over to Princess Zelda, who was glaring at Ganon as she continued to shake in terror. "T-this is not what you w-were s-summoned for," she stammered. _Wait, what the hell does she mean?! Who would summon Ganon?!_

Ganon flat-out laughed this time, _actually_ causing the ground to shake. "Ah, yes. You thought you could control me, yes? Use my power to intimidate those who seek to corrupt your courts?" If he had a face, he would have been snarling. "Stupid girl. You are weak, _far_ weaker than your sibling. The two of you _combined_ would not be able to control my power." As Ganon reached towards Zelda, Lena felt that she could move once more. She hesitated, looking at the scene in front of her: the nine strangers, unable to continue fighting any longer. Ganon, closing in on the Princess quickly. Princess Zelda, who was pressing herself against the wall in a desperate attempt to evade Ganon. The thick, dark smoke that was spreading across the room with each moment.

With a heavy heart, Lena turned and ran.

She ran and ran and ran, hurtling over rubble and shoving past monsters. The Princess had been defeated. Ganon had won. Link had...

"Le...na...?"

Lena gasped. "Link?! Oh my Goddess, _Link!_ " He was almost unconscious and soaked in blood, but he was _here_ and _alive_ and he--

"Lena... I... I'm going to die."

Lena's entire world froze for a second. She shook her head vigorously and hefted Link onto her shoulders. "No... no, no, no, no, you're gonna be fine, Link. I'm gonna take you out of here and we're gonna get you to a doctor and everything's gonna be _fine_ , okay?"

Link might have tried to shake his head, Lena wasn't sure. He was so weak... "No,.. statue... pray. _Please_ , Lena."

Somehow, Lena knew there was nothing she could do. Where would they go? Castle Town had been evacuated, everyone was probably fleeing to a further, safer place. Link needed attention _now_ , not sometime in the next three days. It hurt, more than anything, to take those steps towards the Goddess Statue's sanctuary. To accept that Link was going to... _die_. Sure, he was kind of a sexist jerk who couldn't pull his head out of the past and its traditions, but he was also a family friend. And, y'know, Hyrule's last hope.

As the statue grew near, Lena's steps grew heavier and heavier. She didn't _want_ Link to go. She... she wasn't _ready_ , damn it! After she gingerly set him down at the Goddess Statue's feet, checking to make sure that he was still conscious, Lena knelt down on her knees and prayed for a miracle.

_Goddess Hylia, please don't let him die right now. I'm--Hyrule isn't ready for him to go. We need him. Please._

_**When Hyrule is not ready for its Hero's fall, a new one shall be chosen. Open your eyes, Lena.** _

Lena opened her eyes and stood, gaping at her surroundings. She was no longer in the smoke-filled sanctuary. Rather, she was in a meadow, standing in front of some kind of pedestal. Moss and ivy crept all over the stone, which was weathered and cracked with time. A radiant woman with unbelievably blonde hair, wearing a flowing white dress, stood atop the pedestal. In her hands was a mess of shattered metal. _**Tragic, isn't it? She was made to be by the hero's side until the bitter end, and indeed she was. What a loyal spirit...**_ The woman sighed. _**Lena. Though your grief wraps itself around you like a snake, a great destiny beckons you. The Heroes of times past and of eras that run parallel to each other will be your strongest allies, but not before they are your most fearsome adversaries.**_ With a flash of light so bright that it was almost blinding, the shards of the Master Sword were gone. In their place was a shining golden triangle. It seemed to pull at Lena, almost calling her name. _**Let your Courage be your light as you seek to free the spirits of the Heroes, for it will guide you better than any map.**_ The woman held the triangle out towards Lena. Almost without thinking, the girl lifted her right hand towards it and touched it; it felt cool and warm at the same time, but not in a strange or uncomfortable way. 

Lena gasped, opening her eyes and jumping to her feet. Her father's armor was gone, replaced by a sleveless green tunic with gold trim over a white short-sleeved blouse and comfortable brown shorts. What was more important, however, was the fact that Link was _gone_. Instead, a sword was stuck into a triangular stone where he had been. Its hilt was wrapped in brown leather. The pommel was triangular and golden, with a green cloth protruding from inside it. The cloth ended in three triangles, each a different color: darker green, red, and blue. Perhaps the strangest part of the sword was the guard, which was dark green and extended outwards, then inwards. It had a hole in one side with a gold loop inside of it, almost like an earring. The middle of the guard was adorned with the symbol of the Triforce.

A gut feeling--no, what was telling her to pull the sword out was stronger than a mere gut feeling, and Lena figured that she should follow it. Carefully, she approached the blade. The handle felt familiar in her hands somehow, and a quick tug was all it took to free the sword. 

"You know, I would have never guessed you would be the one to replace me if I fell."

Lena whirled around. Link floated in the air, just a few feet away from her. His tunic and hat were in almost the same state they had been, minus the fact that the blood was missing, and a ghostly blue light seemed to glow around him. "Link...?"

Link nodded. "The Master Sword shattered in the fight with Ganon. I knew I wasn't going to survive, so I started on my way here to pray for Hylia to send a new Hero for Hyrule." He sighed. "It appears that She answered my prayer in an... _unexpected_ manner. Either way, I am now the spirit of this sword--in case you were wondering, it is called the Spirit Sword--and you are this era's new Hero."

"Wha--there's no way! I can't be a Hero, I'm just a random kid!" Suddenly, Lena was starting to wish she'd practiced her swordsmanship more. Sure, she was more than ready to be a knight, but a _Hero?!_

"Seventeen is plenty old enough, and the Goddess surely has Her reasons," Link countered. "You know your task, right?"

Lena gulped. "I think so? I had this weird dream thing where this lady told me to free past Heroes and 'let Courage be my light', whatever that means?"

Link frowned deeper than he already was. "That sounds like a vision... maybe you need to trust what you think you need to do," he offered.

The new Hero took a deep breath. _What I need to do..._ "I think that first of all, we need to get out of here. I definitely need to find some food. Then... I'm not sure. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it?"

Link rolled his eyes. "I suppose so."

"Wha--hey, I'm _trying_ over here, but I have no fucking clue what I'm supposed to be doing!"

" _Lena!_ Don't talk that way in the sanctuary!"

A/N because notes isn't working for some reason:

\- Lena and Link are NOT in a romantic relationship, nor will they ever become romantically involved. Lena's 17, Link is 26, and honestly Link is more or less an uncle figure to her. There WILL be romance for Lena at some point, but it doesn't come in until much later(and it's not the focus of this fic anyway)

\- Yeah, rip Fi. Unfortunately, it had to be done for my plans to happen, but she had a good run. Catch Sky yoinking the Spirit Sword to scream at Link later on lmao

\- Zelda is in fact the one who summoned Ganon, and I'm not even gonna lie, her intentions were kinda sketchy but that gets discussed later so no spoilers >:0

\- I have some stuff planned out for the Heroes, but one thing's kind of bugging me. I want Lena to obtain a key item that holds importance to one of the Links(Time's ocarina, Sky's sailcloth, etc.) in each "dungeon" but I'm not sure what items I should use. I haven't actually played that many Zelda games(I got into it like... last year and I've only beaten albw), so if you have ideas, please help!! Seriously I'm clueless lmao

\- Thanks so much for reading! Comments keep me alive and kudos are always appreciated, but even if you don't do either of those I hope you have a wonderful day/evening/night! :D


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